All these wonderful things

The Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries, 2nd Edition - #2. (tie) IDFA & Toronto

Previously: #1. Sundance Film Festival

#2. (tie) International Documentary Festival Amsterdam and Toronto International Film Festival

Why a tie at number 2?  Because it depends on what kind of film you've made.  Have you made a film with a dynamic (and possibly famous) lead character that begs for theatrical distribution?  Head to Toronto.  Is your film a natural for a 50 minute slot on European television?  Go to Amsterdam.  Below, the pros and cons of each.

First up, IDFA

Our take: The most important all-documentary festival in the world keeps its reputation primarily by continuing to bring together more buyers and industry players than any other event.  Everyone goes to IDFA and almost everyone is accessible (although you might have to get in line), with a lack of exclusive parties and more focus on festival-wide cocktail hours and mixers.  It remains the top place to introduce your film to European buyers and American TV.  The competition still means something, particularly for international titles (which may be getting their Sundance invite in the midst of the festival)...

The downside: ...but if you're not in competition, you may get lost.  A huge (huge!) slate of films means that you're competing for attention with films from around the world.  A deep divide between those who love IDFA and those who think it's best days are behind them (see comments below) Among the latter there's a sense that IDFA may be resting on it's laurels, particularly as a host of European documentary festivals have sprung up in the weeks preceding Amsterdam.  Many think the Forum needs to be re-imagined, a sign of changing thoughts on the whole pitching forum concept.  The fest's crackdown on premiere status this year struck many as a sign of panic at the festival and not helpful to filmmakers.

Important recent premieres: ROUGH AUNTIES, LAST TRAIN HOME, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, EPISODE 3 - "ENJOY POVERTY"

Selection of US films screened at 2009 Fest: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS, THE COVE, COLONY, WINNEBAGO MAN, THE HORSE BOY, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION

Our coverage of IDFA here.

The Monday Brief: Indie Film in Hell - The Bloodbath, CineVegas & Polanski, But Signs of Hope With Ondi Timoner's Innovations, CAPITALISM, SEPTEMBER & IT MIGHT GET LOUD

Is the entire indie film world going to hell?  That's been the question vibrating through our community for the past several weeks, particularly after a Toronto International Film Festival that was light on sales and a summary paper issued by Anne Thompson, in which she labeled this year's TIFF an "indie bloodbath":

"The old independent market is over. A new one will take its place. But we are smack in the middle between the end of one paradigm and the start of another, and it’s a scary place indeed...

If nobody knew anything before, they know even less now. The one sure thing is that moviemakers will now PAY to get their films released. The few remaining distributors can sit back and wait for movies to drop in their laps, often with P & A funds attached. All hopes of a hot sale at a festivals were dashed this year."

And if you think filmmakers going to festivals have it bad, what about the festivals themselves?  This year has seen an unprecedented upheaval, as five of the top 10 festivals for documentaries saw a change in leadership (Sundance, Silverdocs, Los Angeles, Tribeca and Full Frame) and a number of film festivals found themselves making news - Toronto over its choice of Tel Aviv for its City to City Spotlight, Los Angeles in its battle with the BANANAS!* filmmakers and lawyers from Dole, SF Jewish Film over its screening of RACHEL, Tokyo due to its rejection-then-capitulation/acceptance of THE COVE, not to mention the coup at the Denver Film Society.  And what does it say about the New York Film Festival if most of NYC's indie film cognoscenti took the first flights out of town to be in Austin for Fantastic Fest, just as NYFF was opening?

Now we learn that CineVegas, one of the best regional festivals in the US, will not be back for its 2010 edition (although they state publicly that they will try to return sometime after that) and yesterday  the news that filmmaker Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland as he was en route to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival.

Add to all this what any filmmaker on the festival circuit (including this one) can tell you with certainty - for many festivals, the days of largesse have passed.  No travel, no accommodations, no screening fees.  Oh yeah, and if you want more than a couple tickets to your film, you're going to have to pay for them.

Let that sink in for a moment.

IFC's Sundance Selects Acquires ART OF THE STEAL, First TIFF '09 Doc to Sell

Two days after the close of the Toronto Film Festival - and on the same day as it screened for New York Film Festival press, Don Argott's THE ART OF THE STEAL became the first documentary from TIFF to sell when it was acquired by IFC's Sundance Selects imprint.

indieWIRE has the details:

"A bidding situation with four different buyers resulted in the deal, which is reported to have come with a substantial six figure advance. Sundance Selects - which has a mix of execs from Sundance and IFC Films handling both acquisitions and marketing - will release the film widely in theaters in 2010 in at least fifteen cities."

Sundance Selects was unveiled last month with the release of Spike Lee's PASSING STRANGE.  Our TIFF round-up of ART OF THE STEAL can be found here.

TORONTO 2009: Leanne Pooley's THE TOPP TWINS Wins First People's Choice for Docs

Minutes ago, Leanne Pooley's THE TOPP TWINS became the first winner of the People's Choice Award for Documentary at the Toronto Film Festival, the first award specifically for nonfiction films at the major North American festival.  The New Zealand-made docu tells the story of lesbian sister country music performers from that country.

Lee Daniel's PRECIOUS received the overall People's Choice Award.  Toronto doesn't have jury prizes.

Already released in New Zealand, where the film broke all records for a documentary opening, the film previously won the audience award in Melbourne.

TORONTO 2009: Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell's COLONY

Bees are disappearing at a rapid rate and no one is quite sure why.  In COLONY, the feature debut for filmmakers Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell investigate "colony collapse disorder", trying to understand why millions bees are dying.  A frequently discussed film at this year's TIFF, COLONY is not the first collapse disorder doc of the year (THE LAST BEEKEEPER played in competition at LAFF and just premiered on TV). 

In a TIFF overview, NY Times critic Manohla Dargis credits TIFF Doc Programmer Thom Powers with putting his finger on an overreaching theme at this year's fest: "America unraveling in different ways".  COLONY, she suggests, fits right in with Chris Smith's COLLAPSE and Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY:

"Working under the obvious influence of Errol Morris — notable in their attention to beauty, interview style and even pacing — they shift seamlessly from macroimages of the swarming bees to close-ups of their fretting keepers who are struggling with the devastation, including one large California family that is unwisely compared to a hive. Although they could have dug deeper and incorporated more of a global perspective (colony collapse disorder reaches to Europe), their movie constitutes a satisfying addition to the blooming, buzzing field of social issue documentary."

The Globe and Mail's Guy Dixon gives the film 3 1/2 stars (out of four), calling it "straight reportage at its purest":

"Wonderfully photographed, the documentary shows how the bees are vital to our own existence. But it does so simply and with restraint. An intriguing, subtle parallel begins to emerge as we meet the beekeepers and scientists surrounding the underappreciated bee industry, as well as a spokesman from a major pesticide producer, which could be leading to the disappearance of bee colonies. It's about the structure and levers of society, how we interact and force our interests on each other. And all the while, there are other small, little understood societies swarming and flying among us. A brilliant, beautiful film."

TORONTO 2009: Don Argott's THE ART OF THE STEAL

One of the most anticipated docs at this year's Toronto Film Festival (in part because it had already been announced as one of the few docs screening at the New York Film Festival next month) was Don Argott's THE ART OF THE STEAL, the story of the famed Barnes art collection and a ongoing war between pharmaceutical kingpin/art collector Albert Barnes and the society mavens of Philadelphia (including the Annenberg family) that has lasted decades after Barnes' death.

Philly critic Stephen Rea of the Inquirer calls the film a "conspiracy-theory" documentary - and an effective one:

"It presents a strong case that a "cabal" of Philadelphia power brokers past and present - including John Street, Ed Rendell, billionaire Raymond Perelman, the Pew Charitable Trusts' Rebecca Rimel, and the late publishing magnate Walter Annenberg - strategized to defy the last will and testament of billionaire collector Albert C. Barnes, ultimately succeeding in wresting hundreds of Cezannes, Matisses, Picassos, Renoirs, and van Goghs from the eccentric physician-turned-art educator's Foundation headquarters on leafy Latchs Lane to a new spot just blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This important and fascinating film - guaranteed to upset more than a few people on both sides of the Barnes battle - will no doubt find theatrical and broadcast distribution at TIFF. Look for much, much more about this incendiary film, also to be shown at the New York Film Festival later in September, in the weeks and months ahead."

Variety's Todd McCarthy weighs in with a rave, calling the film impeccable and heartrending:

"Docus centered around social or legal outrages get easy mileage out of making politicians and corporate bigwigs the bad guys, and this one is no exception; several of them, as always, "declined to be interviewed for this film." One who did take part, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, comes off well by just speaking plainly and undefensively, and there is a case to be made for, at long last, making these incomparable artworks available to a wide public on a permanent basis...

The film is sharp in every way, from the crisp visuals to the brisk editing and lively musical backgrounding. Happily, plenty of footage shows how the paintings looks inside the Barnes (which remains open for now), and color home movies of Barnes himself (usually in the company of dogs) are an added boon."

Variety, indieWIRE and Screendaily are all reporting that there is significant distributor interest in ART OF THE STEAL, with indieWIRE buzzing that there are "a pair of offers on the table".  Screendaily reports that Submarine sales honcho Josh Braun is close to selling the film.

TORONTO 2009: Chris Smith's COLLAPSE

Acclaimed filmmaker Chris Smith (AMERICAN MOVIE, THE YES MEN) returns to nonfiction (after a brief dalliance with narrative THE POOL) to tell the story of Michael Ruppert, a former LAPD officer who predicted the world economic freefall on his self-published newsletter.  In COLLAPSE, Smith allows Ruppert to hold forth on what's coming next.  (Spoiler alert: we're fucked.)

In a short review, IONCINEMA's Eric Lavallee predicts COLLAPSE will be the doc that people remember from TIFF '09:

"(I)n my estimation this might be the doc film that comes out of TIFF with the best of chances for a theatrical release.  COLLAPSE will not only find a distributor to back the gloomy, Errol Morris' FOG OF WAR-like portrait, but will be a contender for major kudos whatever year it gets submitted to Oscar."

Joshua Rothkopf, writing at Time Out New York, was riveted:

"COLLAPSE takes the nerve-racking theories of Michael Ruppert, a doom theorist, and places the chain smoker front and center to deliver them personally for 82 riveting minutes. Ruppert predicted the economic meltdown with great specificity; he also sees the end of police forces, road systems, air-traffic control and capitalism—within the next 20 to 50 years. You can’t take your eyes off him, even if he does seem a little crazy. (He’s not crazy, just seriously impassioned and probably right.)"

Scott Tobias at the Onion's A/V Club grades the film an "A":

"Smith has enough respect for his audience to allow them to sort out whether he’s a soothsayer or a crackpot. It’s possible to come out of the film thinking, “Oh my God, we’re all doomed,” but there’s also a strong suggestion that Ruppert has walled himself into his own point-of-view by accepting only the information that supports his sweeping theories. And in several immensely poignant moments, we can also see an angry, lonely, vulnerable man whose life epitomizes the title as much as the globe does. There are many layers to the man and the movie, and I for one left the theater shaken."

TORONTO 2009: Brigitte Berman's HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL

Oscar winner Brigitte Berman (1985's ARTIE SHAW: TIME IS ALL YOU'VE GOT) takes on the legendary Hugh Hefner, already subject of a couple of documentaries (including 1992's HUGH HEFNER: ONCE UPON A TIME).  What does HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL have that the others have not?  A focus on Hefner's various good deeds (that might be the "activist" portion of the subtitle).

Unfortunately, says Variety's Rob Nelson, the hagiography might go a bit too far:

"The word "saint" isn't included in the title of HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL, but it might as well be. At 135 minutes, this fawning docu goes to lengths to portray the octogenarian Playboy magazine founder as among the greatest figures of 20th-century American popular culture, while only cursorily acknowledging his status as a pioneering softcore pornographer. By the time this oddly chaste, celebrity-studded film gets around to mentioning Hef's abiding love of animals, even a Bunny will want to hop elsewhere. The Playboy Channel would seem the ideal venue for a pic more flattering than the subject himself could have produced."

Au contraire says Fast Forward Weekly's Peter Hemminger:

"Berman’s doc is a well researched, well presented and very thorough look at the man behind the Playboy brand. While most takes on this subject have played up Hef’s party-heavy lifestyle and his role in sexing up America, Berman is more interested in his often understated role in societal change. A good deal of time is given to Hef’s fights for equal rights for minorities, his promotion of blacklisted artists during the McCarthy era and his passion for jazz, as well as the magazine’s contributions to interview pieces and literature.

Of course, you can’t make a Hefner movie without sex, and sex is always present. But it’s more the stream of interviewees, from Mike Wallace to Joan Baez to Jesse Jackson and Pat Boone, who really make the film work."

TORONTO 2009: Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith's THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA

Tomorrow, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith's THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS opens at New York's Film Forum, just days after its debut at TIFF.  Accordingly, the film has received a raft of press attention, not just for its Toronto debut but for its near-immediate New York run (and subsequent Oscar qualification).

Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman calls the film "gripping" and notes that the story of the Pentagon Papers "may be every bit the equal of Watergate in its moral urgency and almost seismic drama":

"THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA takes the form of a classic whistleblower tale, as Ellsberg, droopy and handsome, tormented by his conscience, undergoes the political equivalent of a religious conversion, coming around to the view that he must do whatever it takes to stop the (Vietnam) war. He decides to leak the Rand Corporation report, all seven thousand pages of it, to the New York Times. Just Xeroxing the thing takes months — he even enlists his kids — but when he finally delivers the documents to the Times, the drama is just beginning. A government crackdown ensues, and by the time that’s over, seventeen newspapers have agreed to publish the Pentagon Papers. It’s literally a case of the press declaring itself, newspaper by newspaper, to be free. THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA shows you that the Pentagon Papers was really the first chapter of Watergate, the trigger that drove Richard Nixon to take the law into his own hands. What’s really shocking, though, is that Hollywood never made a movie out of this one."

Variety's Ronnie Scheib writes:

"Some may criticize the filmmakers' strict adherence to Ellsberg as both narrator and star, but the docu focuses on his moral turnaround, which directly impacted history. This unique fusion of personal and social drama allows the pic to avoid the usual canned montage-of-the-times approach. The footage places Ellsberg at the center of both polar factions regarding Vietnam: playing Pentagon war games and marching in peace protests.

Ehrlich and Goldsmith's varied storytelling techniques include interviews with eclectic talking heads, re-enactments of shadowy figures Xeroxing thousands of pages, crude animation of secret transfers of boxes of documents, and tape recorders spinning Nixon's uncensored commentary."

TORONTO 2009: Chris Smith, er, Chris Rock Talks GOOD HAIR, M.J., Mr. T but not Kanye

Roadside Attractions has been twittering away during the Q&A for GOOD HAIR today in Toronto.  It all started with TIFF Documentary Programmer Thom Powers confusing the comedian for the man who made AMERICAN MOVIE.   Safe to say that's probably the first time that mix-up has been made. 

What followed were some of the better one-liners in recent memory.

Here's the recap, in order, per Roadside's tweets:

Thom Powers just introduced Chris Rock as "Chris Smith." I think Thom's seen one too many docs!

Thom: "So you were the first black kid in your school. What was that like?" Chris: "You know, shitty."

Chris: "I'm black, so hair doesn't really matter to me anyway. I'm an ass man. The next film's gonna be Good Ass."

Chris: "I think Michael Jackson does shows in heaven, but then they make him go back to hell."